intermittent ramblings from an optimistic discontent

Main menu

Monthly Archives: July 2016

How appropriate that Defense Secretary Ash Carter should announce that “transgendered” are now welcome in the U.S. military as Americans head into our Independence Day weekend. “The Defense Department and the military need to avail ourselves of all talent possible to remain…the finest fighting force the world has ever known.” If only Gen. Washington had availed himself of a few recruits from Greenwich Village taverns in Feb., 1776, he might not have lost New York, suffered through Valley Forge and spent the next five years fighting a brutal war with the Brits.

At least we can be comforted that Mr. Secretary is confident any “practical issues” can be resolved and that his tranny working group has been free to proceed “with the presumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness.” Likewise, the RAND Corporation, commissioned by the DoD to rubber-stamp Mr. Carter’s foregone conclusion, authoritatively reported in May that “allowing transgender personnel to serve openly and receive gender transition-related treatment” during military service is “unlikely to harm unit cohesion.”

Gotta love that “unlikely.” It’s really just a smidgen of a fraction of a chance. Nothing to worry about. It’s not like we’re talking life and death here.

Yes, the fix was in from the beginning. A quick perusal of RAND’s Assessing the Implications of Allowing Transgender Personnel to Serve Openly reveals that Obama, Carter, et al. were just looking for some pseudo-intellectual air cover for their dirty guerrilla war on the military. There’s not even an attempt at impartiality. The report begins not by addressing the needs of the military nor its ability to fight Obama’s ever new and always continuous wars, but instead with this question: What are the Health Care Needs of the Transgender Population? As if that weren’t enough, here are a few more doozies:

TaxonomyTransgender is an umbrella term referring to individuals who identify with a gender different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Leaving aside the wanton noun and pronoun abuse, the Ivy-Leaguers at Rand are really so educated they think sex is assigned at birth? Primary sex characteristics are nothing more than labels affixed to our postpartum hospital diapers?

It’s Not a Mental Disorder!Under the recently established criteria in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), transgender status alone does not constitute a medical condition. Whew, I thought they were mental! Oh, wait. There’s more…only transgender individuals who experience significant related distress are considered to have a medical condition called gender dysphoria (GD). Some combination of psychosocial, pharmacologic or surgical care may be medically necessary for these individuals. So, I’m confused. Are those folks mental?

Physical Standards, Part IPhysical fitness standards should specify physical requirements (rather than physical conditions). I’m not educated enough to know what that means.

Physical Standards, Part IIWe recommend that DoD expand and enhance its guidance and directives to clarify retention standards for review during and after medical transition. For example, evidence from Canada and Australia (ed. note, my go-to nations for military advice) suggests that transgender personnel may need to be held medically exempt from physical fitness testing and requirements. However, after completing medical transition, the service member could be required to meet the standards of the acquired gender. Or maybe no standards at all?

Readiness, Part IWhen assessing the readiness impact of a policy change, we found that less than 0.0015 percent of the total available labor-years would be affected, based on estimated gender transition–related health care utilization rates. Because nothing conveys the ability to locate, close with and kill your enemy like “affected labor-years based on estimated gender transition-related blah, blah, blah.”

Readiness, Part IIThe degree of austerity will differ across deployment environments…recent advancements can minimize the invasiveness of treatments and allow for telemedicine or other forms of remote medical care. Given this, DoD may wish to adjust some of its processes and deployment restrictions in the context of medical and technological advancements. Yeah, Nighstalker, this is Bonecrusher. In addition to the medevac, we’re going to need the head-shrinker to get on the mike and talk to Frank – er, Francine – again.

SurgeryThe surgical skills for some gender transition surgeries also overlap with skills required for the repair of genital injuries sustained in combat, which have increased dramatically among troops deployed to Afghanistan. Well, at least there’s one positive outcome of Obama’s wars. Providing high-quality surgery to treat combat wounds that require penile reconstruction requires extensive knowledge and practice in reconstructive techniques.” Which will come in oh-so-handy when surgeons help F2Ms undergo their adadictome procedures.

It’s not a Mental Disorder! – RevisitedPatients denied appropriate health care may turn to other solutions, such as injecting construction-grade silicone into their bodies to alter their shape. There are also potential costs related to mental health care services for individuals who do not receive such care. Multiple observational studies have suggested significant and sometimes dramatic reductions in suicidality, suicide attempts, and suicides among transgender patients after receiving transition-related treatment. So, we should go ahead and welcome recruits that are likely suicidal and then provide them treatment so they won’t be suicidal. Leaving the tranny lunacy aside, why would the military ever consider someone who is likely suicidal?

Readiness, Part IIIThe most extensive research on the potential effects of openly serving transgender personnel on readiness and cohesion has been conducted in Canada. This research involved an extensive review of internal defense reports and memos, an analysis of existing literature, and interviews with military commanders. It found no evidence of any effect on operational effectiveness or readiness. In fact, the researchers heard from commanders that the increased diversity improved readiness by giving units the tools to address a wider variety of situations and challenges. They also found no evidence of any effect on unit or overall cohesion. Yes! Trannies improve readiness. You read it right here. The state-of-the-art in modern warfare. When you’re preparing to battle with Obama’s enemies you should follow the lead of the Canucks and channel your inner other sex. I think the Jihadi are surrendering already!

Oh, I could go on. But then I’d have to start seeing one of those military shrinks. If you have the stomach for more, read the report for yourself.

But the fun really hasn’t begun. In an essay almost three years ago to the day, Whither the Transgendered?, I predicted the Ts in LGBT would eventually revolt at being left out of the military Pride-fest and stomp their stilettos ’til they got their way. Well, now that the trans have come of age, it’s time for a new prediction. The celebration over the inclusion of the transgendered has conveniently left out the “genderfluid.” Swear, I’m not making this up. For many years now the LGBTQ%#@$*&!!! movement has been increasing its list of “genders”—remember Facebook’s 58?—and now it insists there are folks whose identity just doesn’t fit any label. From the experts over at Nonbinary.org:

Genderfluid individuals have different gender identities at different times [or] could be multiple genders at once, and then switch to none at all, or move between single gender identities. For some genderfluid people, these changes happen as often as several times a day, and for others, monthly, or less often. Some genderfluid people regularly move between only a few specific genders, perhaps as few as two, whereas other genderfluid people never know what they’ll feel like next.

And in case that’s too restrictive…

Some people with fluid genders call themselves by a word such as genderqueer, bigender, multigender, polygender, or other words. This can be because the people haven’t seen the word “genderfluid,” or it can be because they don’t think it describes them well. It’s important to understand that each person has the right to decide what to call their gender identity, and that they’re the only one who can do that.”

You think we might have a problem now with physical standards, uniforms, bathrooms and medical care—not to mention, genuine unit cohesion and military readiness. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!